Tuesday, September 27, 2016

“Global Fishing Watch” unveiled last week is a new satellite-based surveillance system powered by Google was unveiled last Thursday, aiming to help governments and the public track the movement of tens of thousands of fishing vessels across the world, in nearly real time.

The pain

Illegal and unreported fishing by renegade fisherman is a multibillion-dollar business which has proven notoriously difficult to monitor.

A third of the world’s fisheries are overfished, which can create extinction of an important food supply! The ocean is an ecosystem that requires sustainability to survive, and we’re not treating it in a sustainable fashion.

The solution

"Global fishing watch" is a free platform that will help governments, journos, insurance companies and the public (and who else?) monitor the 35, 000 fishing vessels in real time.

Holding people accountable is an important step -

" what you can measure you can manage"

But at what cost?

An example of good use

The government of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati ( 800 sq miles, 103,000 population) used Global Fishing Watch to document how a tuna-fishing vessel had operated illegally inside the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. This resulted in a $1 million fine — a large sum for such a tiny government.

Indonesia recently sank 60 boats that it had impounded for illegally fishing in its waters, part of an aggressive campaign to assert sovereignty over one of its key resources.

What are examples of not so good use?

You can now track anything in the world from anywhere in the world. Big brother is watching you!

Friday, September 23, 2016

Self driving cars and technology seems to be the next big thing, and this technology can have massive positive ramifications in Australia.

Reducing congestion and reducing road fatalities to name two.

As always, investment in education will be key to who the influencers are and where the centre of influence will take place.

Some BHAFs (big, hairy audacious facts) (supplied from an email from Bob Pritchard)!

- Uber bought Otto for $700m last month, it was regarded as a “talent acquisition,” meaning Uber was interested in obtaining Otto’s 70 employees, not necessarily their core technology.

- General Motor's $1B acquisition of Cruise a couple of months ago. They wanted Cruise’s 40 self-driving car experts to come to Detroit and help them catch up with the pack of companies developing self driving cars.

This means that the going rate for self-driving car talent these days is at least $10m per person,

There are 10 self-driving car companies saying they’ll be in the game in four years when somewhere well in excess of 10 million driverless vehicles are expected to be on the road.

Sebastian Thrun, Google’s self-driving car guru, says companies are desperate for talent and for the skill set to build a self-driving car.... A skill that is clearly in high demand!!!!

ATM Carnegie Mellin in Pittsburgh PA (Detroit)!and Detroit - is the only self driving learning programme - and Uber has just poached 40 of its researchers . which is also why Uber’s first self-driving tests with Volvo launched there.

Udacity, the online teaching school that Thrun co-founded in 2012, is now partnering with companies like Otto, Mercedes-Benz, and Didi Chuxing (the Chinese Uber) to create a self-driving “nanodegree” program. The program, which lasts 9 months, was designed around one single question:

What would it take for these graduates to get a job at one of the partnering companies?

Just know that they have some pretty serious competition -- they’ve received thousands of applications already and will only admit 250 students.

What University or RTO wants to licence or offer such a course in Australia?

- Malcolm Turnbull is it worth investing in upskilling our people in this? Is this innovation important enough to invest in?

- Mike Baird (Premier in NSW) is it worthwhile setting up an area of influence in NSW - I note that there was an RFI asking for submissions in April 2016 https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/DBAssets/InquiryOther/Transcript/7616/Media%20Release%20-%20Inquiry%20into%20Driverless%20Vehicles%20and%20Road%20Safety%20in%20NSW.pdf

Any outcomes? What's next?

- Daniel Andrews (Premier in Victoria) is it worthwhile setting up an area of influence in Vic? I note that you are investing moneys in this space - good on you! (Tech Trials To Bust Congestion On Our Road Network https://shar.es/1x64oE via @danielandrewsmp) (a $13m smarter journeys package)

Victoria has always taken the lead in supporting innovation!

- Jay Weatherill (Premier in South Australia) - is this an opportunity to get back the lead in the Automobile industry in your State? I note that

South Australian Transport and Infrastructure Minister, Stephen Mullighan MP, has recently visited the Transport Research Laboratory’s (TRL’s) UK Smart Mobility Living Lab (ITS International - South Australian Transport Minister gets to grips with UK driverless initiatives https://shar.es/1x6C24 )

- any outcomes?

A bit of research tells me there is the ADVI (Australia Driverless Vehicle initiative) - seems to be a focus group of experts - it will be interesting to know more about this group! Has it got legs?

An article on their website by Antony Harrowell of Huxxer corporation seems to be on the money - saying that Australia should be all over this technology like a rash! Driverless Trucks - are badly needed in Australia - to overcome the tyranny of distance .

Australia seems to be hovering at the edges! Maybe it's time to take serious action!

I know NBN is important!!! How does self driving cars rate in Australia's future?

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Only actions will remove the doubts... China rolls out its first sky train...the third country after Germany and Japan to develop the technology. The two compartments can hold more than 200 passengers, and when compared with subways and trams, sky trains have lower costs, better climbing and turning ability, and higher wind resistance. The overhauled railway is driven by batteries which can run for four hours at a time, and the batteries can be changed when stopped at a station, with the whole process lasting only two minutes..It's a sign of progress!!

Comments are really interesting - below are a few

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Chinese are setting milestone for developing countries and encouraging for out of box ideas.simply delightful.

CAN WE TRY SUCH TECHNOLOGY IN MUMBAI AND OTHER METROS AS A PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM? Only 200 such Sky Trains can solve our traffic problems and jams, make lifestyles better and green!!

Yeah and if they mounted solar panels above the overhead tracks for recharging the batteries it may almost be an off-grid transportation solution.

The key is innovation with commercial use here - brilliant

Innovation, Commercial use in very less time to market. Technological self sufficiency. Many things to observe and learn.

Admirable, it shows their foresight, discipline tenacity in building such devices for the betterment of their lives and country.

Amazing to see but not surprised. The sad story is that Our own Walt Disney told the California politicians in 1958 to build his Monarail trains above all our freeways in California. He offered them the plans for his Monorail Trails. Walt said" you will need it" and our bright California leaders response was; " we won't need that, our super highways of tomorrow will handle all our future traffic" and Walt said; " No they won't"

Sad. We had a brilliant man with great ideas and our leaders didn't have a clue. We, I guess China can build our future cool stuff.

Congrats for the innovation and need to be disseminated all over the Globe for developing an eco-friendly environment. All the best..

My view - this is great innovation and China is taking action! A great idea is as only as good as its implementation! Talk is cheap . If action is taken and it doesn't work - they will learn and realign until they perfect the invention

Friday, September 16, 2016

“If you asked 10 people in this room what a blockchain is you'll get 10 different answers and I think that's why it's at the peak of the hype cycle… we need to understand it, we need to come to shared agreement of what is it and what are we going to do about it,” he told the conference.

SO what is "BLOCKCHAIN?"

Instead of one central database of who owns what, blockchain allows for a network of identical, linked databases that talk to each other and are updated simultaneously. Simon Taylor, VP Blockchain R+D at Barclays, said blockchain is best viewed as a reconciliation technology, rather than a payment technology.Below is a great video on how Bitcoin (the first application of Blockchain works

Here is a cool video ( I think its gone viral) that explains what Blockchain is

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has concluded that blockchain technology "will fundamentally alter the way financial institutions do business around the world" after a year-long study of the emerging technology."It represents a fundamental threat which could disrupt almost every process in financial services" says Bank of New York Mellon head of EMEA Innovation Centre. “Banking processes in place for 100 years-plus will be massively disrupted,”UBS’s Bussmann said"Twenty-five global banks, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank, are now working together through the R3 distributed ledger initiative, which is developing a framework for using blockchain technology in markets"Blockchain technology could potentially underpin a global market infrastructure, built on an open protocol, for money and financial assets.

Blockchain can drive simplicity and efficiency in financial services and will redraw processes and disrupt orthodoxies that are foundational to today’s business models.

Blockchain will become the beating heart of the finance industry. "It will build innovative solutions across the industry, becoming ever more integrated into the structure of financial services, as mainframes, messaging services, and electronic trading did before it."

To make a change or add onto the blockchain the majority of members of the network must sign off on it. This cuts out the need for middle men in transactions, because the fact that everyone signs off means trust is built into the system.

By cutting out middle men, cost is reduced. The process also reduces error.

The technology could be used to record anything that involves transactions. Applications are being developed for everything from share records to art and diamonds.

Banks and financial institutions have been going crazy for blockchain technology over the last year and a half. Institutions are spending heavily on proof of concepts using the technology, issuing countless white papers, and joining industry-wide bodies to figure out how to use the protocol.

WEF says 80% of banks will start blockchain projects by 2017 and $1.4 billion has been invested into the technology over the past three years. 90 central banks are looking at the technology.

WEF identifies six "key value drivers", which are basically reasons why everyone is so enthusiastic about it. They are:

But I suspect that about as fast as you read this list, you had to fight off strong thoughts of examples where the opposite is also true — when technology failed to make the user experience better.

There are many opportunities during the customer buying journey for technology to foul up the experience. And of course there are also many opportunities after sale.

If the shiny object dulls quickly because it doesn’t meet our expectations, then the emotional pretense of the sale is tarnished.

Last week, Apple unveiled its latest offering, the iPhone 7. This event along with some other recent brushes with commerce got me thinking about the role of technology in user experiences. And it’s not always a good thing.

Let me explain.

The Make-up of User Experience

When we consider a purchase, our buying journey includes a customer experience. We are wooed by advertisements and company brands. These ads target our emotions to muster the courage to overcome any resistance and compel us take action to make a purchase.

For more expensive purchases, the process is longer. When purchases involve greater sums of money, our impulsiveness is tempered. For these, a business must invest considerably more time and resources in courting us.

As in mating courtship, the process begins with attraction. It is followed by engagement … not in the literal sense just yet, but figuratively. A relationship must develop that includes interaction.

We are diligent in our investigation of the field of products. We conduct research. We examine specimens. We touch and hold it. We test drive it. We use it.

All the while, businesses strive to ensure that our experience is positive. Failing that and we are gone. Out of there. Vamoose!

There is always another business with a similar product that has the right mojo to win our business — that overcomes our rational barriers by making us feel emotionally connected, that strokes our ego and satisfies our ethos.

During the buying journey, customer experience transitions into user experience. After sale, our focus is using our new product or service. We put it into service; we interface with it.

Businesses need this user experience to be positive also. They want our continued loyalty for future sales. They have already invested in us and it is much less expensive for them to stay top-of-mind and keep us happy until our next purchase than it is to cultivate a new customer.

If they really excel at retaining loyalty through a positive user experience, heck, we may pledge our allegiance, buy the T-shirt and become a loyalist, a promoter … even an advocate!

Times when technology is not right

I have always traveled a moderate amount for business and pleasure.

I enjoy new adventures. As much as I like to discover the sights and sounds of new places, I especially enjoy the people.

The people of a place are the culture if they are deeply woven into its fabric. They are telling of a place’s character. They are a barometer of the times. For that reason, I try to discover the places away from the usual tourist traffic.

Often, I will sit and watch. The pace of a place speaks volumes. I will strike up a conversation with just about anybody. This is how you learn more about a place, its people, its underlying ideology.

Hardly a day goes by in which technology doesn’t work like it’s designed to—kiosks, debit machines, computers, parking meters, bus fare machines, airline travel, etc. When you are away from home and on travel it often seems exaggerated and worse than it is. And every time, it’s how the service folks handle the situation and the affected people that defines the user experience.

I was in New Orleans recently and got hustled by a street vendor. I guess I just didn’t disengage fast enough, but before I knew it he gave his opening line “I bet you a dollar, I can tell you where you got your shoes.”

While I was sorting through the young man’s accent pondering his claim and before I could decline, he thrust his hand into mine to shake on it. A gentleman’s commitment. Then without waiting, he delivered his punch line. “Why you got your shoes on the bottom of your feet … on Canal Street … in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Got me. He was correct sure enough. I couldn’t argue with his salesmanship and paid up.

On this and other trips, I find some people to be so friendly or pleasant or accommodating that they really are the gems in the rough that show the character of a place. They take time out of their day to converse with me — a total stranger — to share information and ideas. And best of all, they share a little bit of themselves.

Far too often now, when I walk around my hometown or travel elsewhere, I see people buried in their smartphones. To be sure, some are using their devices for navigation. That’s cool.

But when they are stationary and part of a group, they are missing the special things close up … failing to stop and smell the roses. I’ll see two people on a park bench occupied by the digital world. I’ll see them at the same table in restaurants avoiding the human experience.

These are examples of when technology is simply not right. Is the user experience simply that engaging that we have lost our filters?

Technology test drive

I recently wrote on the subject of simulated customer experiences. You can read about it here:

It is typical today for scrutinizing, tech-savvy prospects of expensive software, equipment or instrumentation to engage in the experience of simulating what it’s like to be a customer of a specific business.

Both the technology and the company are on trial here.

Knowing that their purchase will require a substantial after-sale relationship, the prospective customer’s goal is to get the most realistic experience possible of what it will be like to do business with a specific company. They will be hyper-sensitive to the interactions that take place and the relationship that develops.

At the same time, the prospect wants to use and “test-drive” the product. They are past sales resistance and fully engaged. In my article, I wrote about different ways the simulation can be accomplished. Suffice it to say, it is a very in-depth, personal shopping experience.

But this is precisely where technology gets put to the test. If the simulated customer experience does not translate to a positive user experience in this controlled setting, or the customer does not see a smooth path forward, then the sale will be derailed and scuttled.

To render a good experience, the simulation experience itself need to be very well thought out and engineered with an undeniable positive outcome.

Foul! Forced compliance is totalitarianism

And then there's Apple.

As we all know now, the iPhone 7 is due out very soon. This is the company that Thinks Different. Or is it that they want you to Think Different.

After all, they just made a new high-tech phone, no wait…it’s a mobile device, WITHOUT AN AUDIO JACK! What were they thinking? Differently, for sure.

Steve Jobs understood that design and functionality dictated user experience. But this is a perfect example of how technology has fouled up user experience.

Did the engineers forget to include a 3.5 mm audio jack? Did they not think we needed it, or wanted it? Were the customer’s wants ignored? Or was this an intentional redesign to go a different direction?

Ah, perhaps this is part of a covert plan to bilk consumers into shelling out more money for an over-priced adapter cable — on the order of US$40. And since it will be impossible for consumers to keep up with it, there will be an endless supply of repeat purchases!

Now, you tell me…has Apple lost its sensitivity to the connection between design and user experience?

To be fair, the iPhone 7 comes with EarPods that are wired to a Lightning connector.

But as I understand it, the iPhone 7 has only one lightning port! To use any existing equipment, we require an interface adapter dongle (say that three times fast). Engaging in multiple functions simultaneously, like charging the battery and using wired headphones with a microphone, is not realistic except by purchasing a specialized dongle from a third party.

Apple is forcing iPhone 7 users to change. Apple is calling the shots on user experience. They want us to evolve by purchasing wireless headphones. Compliance is hardly optional. I guess wires are just too old school now. We will have to try and keep up with two tiny wireless earbuds. Drop one on the floor in an airplane and good luck.

Not having been part of the decision-making team makes this whole thing stink. It just doesn’t sit well with me.

Are you ready to embrace this change or do you feel a bit like a fast one has been pulled on you and your hand has been forced?

Advancements in artificial intelligence, coupled with the proliferation of messaging apps, are fueling the development of chatbots. Chatbots are software programs that use messaging as the interface through which to carry out any number of tasks, from scheduling a meeting, to reporting weather, to helping users buy a pair of shoes.

Foreseeing immense potential, businesses are starting to invest heavily in the burgeoning bot economy. A number of brands and publishers have already deployed bots on messaging and collaboration channels, including HP, 1-800-Flowers, and CNN. While the bot revolution is still in the early phase, many believe 2016 will be the year these conversational interactions take off.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, they explore the growing and disruptive bot landscape by investigating what bots are, how businesses are leveraging them, and where they will have the biggest impact.

The potential annual savings that businesses could realize if chatbots replace some of their customer service and sales reps are substantial. AI has reached a stage in which chatbots can have increasingly engaging and human conversations, allowing businesses to leverage the inexpensive and wide-reaching technology to engage with more consumers.

Chatbots are particularly well suited for mobile, perhaps more so than apps. Messaging is at the heart of the mobile experience, as the rapid adoption of chat apps demonstrates.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

In 1964, the most valuable company, AT&T was worth $267 billion and employed 758,611 people. Today’s telecommunications giant, Google is worth $370 billion but has only about 55,000 employees.

Digital disruption is forcing all industries to change how business is done - businesses can either adapt or face the possibility of being made redundant.

What is Digital Darwinism?

Digital darwism is a fate that threatens most organizations in almost every industry. Because of this, businesses not only have to compete for today but also for the unforeseeable future.

Digital Darwinism is the phenomenon when technology and society evolve faster than an organization can adapt...

This may sound strange, but most organizations have no idea what their consumers want. They develop products and services, with little to no perspective and this has been going on for centuries.

A more consumer-centric approach looks at the world through the eyes of your customers, seeing what they see, allowing you to give the customer what they actually want, not what you think they need.

It's important to note that in the age of digital disruption there has been a fundamental shift in control from the business to the customer....

The customer now defines your brand, the companies that will thirve are the ones that add more value and create raving fans.

What is a customer journey map?

A customer journey map allows your organisation to develop empathy with your customers. It is a tool that allows you to step through the customer experience and understand what it is like to interact with your company.

Customer journey mapping begins with identifying and cataloguing the touch points where your customer interacts with your company as a whole. Once these are catalogued you will then be able to group them in stages and plot them on a timeline.

See example below;

What’s driving change?

Executives leading digital transformation were motivated by the substantial differences between connected and traditional customers. The way today’s consumers use screens and what they expect to accomplish does not mirror traditional customers of the past. Their values are shifting.

Organisations are being forced to ask themselves:

What uniquely defines the persona of our customers?

What is different about their customer journey?

What are the touchpoints they frequent, how do they use them, and with what devices?

What are their expectations, what do they value, and how do they define success?

How are they influenced, and by whom? How and whom do they in turn influence?

Example of a customer persona;

A buyer persona is not merely a description of your buyer. As hundreds of our partners and customers can tell you, simply profiling your buyer results in too many personas and not nearly enough marketing guidance.

When you have insights into what your buyers think about doing business with you, including actual word-for-word quotes from people who have recently bought from you, you have the knowledge you need to align your marketing decisions with your customer's buying journey. The ROI is massive for those that bother to do this properly!

Those that have adopted the customer journey approach have shifted as much as 40 percent of marketing spend to activities that generate more sales and improve customer retention.

Businesses are now faced with connecting the dots to understand behavior, map customer journeys, and redefine them to create experiences that deliver more value than ever possible in the past.

I love this quote from Tony Robbins...

This is just the beginning...

Digital transformation represents a journey for businesses who seek to compete for attention and affinity of a different type of customer, a customer who requires a different set of human-centered paths, touch points, and outcomes.

Technology is just one part of the equation. Behind most of the change is the story of changing human behavior, both on the customer side and with employees within an organisation.

In order for businesses to remain competitive it is imperative that they develop a customer-centric marketing strategy and gain a much deeper understanding of buyer behaivor. The result is companies are being forced to deliver a more natural and meaningful experience.

If you don't have a customer journey map or buyer personas for your business, don't waste anytime losing market share.

There have been no public service announcements or demonstrations of the technology. Except for the mayor and one police official, no other top city leader has seen a self-driving Uber vehicle operate up close. Fire and emergency services don’t know where the Uber cars will travel.

Pittsburgh has ignited criticism that the city is giving away its keys to Uber, which is testing a nascent technology and has a reputation for running roughshod over regulators and municipalities and It is precisely this hands-off approach that has made Pittsburgh ideal grounds for one of Silicon Valley’s boldest experiments.

Uber plans to use about 100 modified Volvo sport utilityvehicles for the passenger trials. The vehicles will also have a human monitor behind the wheel. “You can either put up red tape or roll out the red carpet. If you want to be a 21st-century laboratory for technology, you put out the carpet.” Says Pittsburg's Mayor, Bill Peduto. They have helped Uber lease a large plot near the city’s riverfront for a testing track

Pittsburgh is seeking to shed their Rust Belt pasts and transform themselves into a technology hub— essentially, give the tech companies lots of free rein. The approach, described as greenlight governing, has brought tech entrepreneurs to Pittsburgh and attracted hundreds of scientists and engineers to new research centers opened in the city in the last decade by Apple, Google, Intel and Uber.

How Pittsburgh handles the unveiling of Uber’s self-driving fleet is being closely watched by other tech and auto companies that are doing their own driverless experiments in places like California and Michigan.

Depressed cities around the nation are watching to see if the Pittsburgh story can be a blueprint for their own transitions into tech hubs.

About the possibility of deaths and accidents, the Mayor said “There is no technology that is fail-proof and there is no tech that can guarantee there won’t be accidents, but right now there are 3,287 people who die in automobile-related accidents around the world each day, and there has to be a better way,

Uber came to Pittsburgh in early 2015, drawn by the engineering talent at Carnegie Mellon. The university started a robotics department 30 years ago, when driverless cars seemed like a fantasy, but robotics has since proved crucial for the systems that let vehicles navigate streets on their own.

The university’s expertise in computer science had attracted not only Uber but also General Motors, Google and Intel, some of which embedded at Carnegie Mellon. Google and Uber later opened research centers, hiring dozens of Carnegie Mellon professors and graduate students.

Today, Uber has 500 employees at a center in Pittsburgh’s industrial Strip District working on autonomous vehicles, and plans to have 1,000 employees at the site, known as the Advanced Technology Center, within a few years, increasing investments to $1 billion from hundreds of millions of dollars in a decade, he said.

“There’s really not been a whole lot of collaboration on the actual testing,” said Scott Schubert, Pittsburgh’s assistant chief of police, who rode in one of the Uber vehicles last June and signed a nondisclosure agreement to do so.

After a two-mile ride home, Mr. Peduto posted on Twitter that he ended that day as the world’s first mayor chauffeured by an autonomous Uber car.

“I feel fortunate that I have the ear of a C.E.O. of one of the biggest privately held companies,” he said.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Our next steps will determine how Australia, a country with proud agricultural heritage, is viewed by the worldwide industry.

The question facing Australia is: do we want to be builders, buyers or bystanders in the AgTech market? In countries such as Canada, England, Israel and New Zealand, government is already playing a key role bringing together researchers, producers, technology providers, startups and investors to develop AgTech industries.

Numbers paint a clear picture of the sectors potential:

Australia is home to over 123,000 agribusinesses, directly employing over 300,000 people and in 2015 venture capital investment in Agtech rose 336 percent.

But by far the more vivid image is that of Australian farmers struggling to make ends meet on the land because they lack access to the technology and data analytics needed to compete with the yield efficiency of their international counterparts. Technologies such as autonomous vehicles, precision sprayers, virtual fencing, smart gates, sensing devices and robotics are already transforming how we farm and the trust we have in the food we eat. The next major transformation in agriculture will come from connection to the Internet of Things, in so doing we will draw consumers closer to growers and integrate supply chains to improve yield and reduce wastage.

The Internet of Things allows us to peer into the future of agriculture by providing the tools to enable farmers to address climatic, operational or any number of other dilemmas.

It isn’t enough however to suggest that the agribusiness industry should be thinking of innovative ways to solve problems, after all farmers have been doing this since the dawn of farming itself. We must invest in the development of technology that will facilitate the rapid capture, analysis and exchange of valuable data, so farmers at any tip of our vast country can take advantage of real time data enabled analysis to make better decisions to improve crop yield.

Smart Agriculture, where sensor devices throughout the supply chain are connected to the Internet, will enable farmers to produce higher quality crops with greater yields for the same or less chemical, fertiliser and water inputs.

Smart Farming is not just an economic enabler for Australia, but key to ensuring that agriculture, beef and dairy in particular, retain their social licence to operate.

This data becomes increasingly valuable in line with the speed with which it can be acted upon.

Picture a drone flying above countless crops, feeding real-time crop growth images and data back to a farmer and agronomist who are able to adjust his or her plans and actions immediately. In the United States this sort of analysis is already possible. In Australia, the lack of mobile connectivity across rural Australia inhibits such a rapid response. The quickest that most Australian farmers can feasibly capture, transfer, interpret and act on data from the land is the next day, compare this to real time analysis US farmers re accessing.

Despite the fact that we lag behind other countries, technology is still changing the way Australians farm. Over the last decade and a half, nearly 30 percent of jobs have disappeared from the industry; this is predominantly because of technology facilitating a production model less reliant on man power. It would be wrong however to assume this decrease in employment is shrinking the value of the industry. In fact our $57 billion agribusiness sector has the potential to nearly double in size to become a $100 billion industry by 2030.

Bearing this in mind, it’s important that we stay proactive. Allowing foreign innovators to define the landscape of change will inevitably prove less favourable than designing solutions which are tailored to suit Australian farmers.

One key in this is the engagement of young, passionate agriculturalists. The farming techniques that we employ today were scarcely imagined when the current generation of Australian farmers, whose average age is 57, were doing their training. This is not the generation who will ultimately drive the industry forwards long-term, but their experience, knowledge of the land and custodianship of our agribusinesses will be vital in securing the interest of excited, tech savvy farmers of tomorrow. We have an industry-wide responsibility to hear their ideas and support their efforts in changing the face of Australian agribusiness; and we will collectively reap the rewards.

Now is not the time for Australia to decide to be buyers or bystanders in the global AgTech market!

Read Powering Growth: Realising the potential of AgTech for Australia, a collaboration between StartupAUS, KPMG, Queensland Government and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. This report makes a series of recommendations aimed at growing the AgTech sector in Australia to provide producers with the tools, data and knowledge to make more informed and timely on-farm decisions and improve productivity and sustainability.